The parties — the Center Party, the Social Democrats (SDE), the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and Parempoolsed — will instead devise their own campaigns using their own teams.

"Our current team is strong and professional and has long-term political experience. The Center Party team has enough experience and knowledge to plan and carry out its own election campaign," a Center Party spokesperson told ERR.

"No advertising agency is running our campaign. That's how we organized the previous local government and European Parliament election campaigns too, relying on our members' knowledge, experience and creativity," they added.

SDE Secretary General Piret Hartman said her party is also relying on its own team. "We have people who are very experienced, who have been in our team repeatedly and helped with campaigns. People we trust, who themselves have a background in marketing, communication and strategic communication," Hartman said.

Party chair Lauri Läänemets is heading the campaign, though agencies will likely still be needed for the technical production of TV clips, Hartman went on.

Contesting its second ever Riigikogu elections and looking for its first ever seats is Parempoolsed, whose campaign manager Priit Isok noted he has 30 years of experience in marketing and design which he can bring to bear. "We don't have the kind of resources the Riigikogu parties have, we have to manage with our own forces. We use in-house and we use friends' help," Isok said.

"While Isamaa or Reform come with multi-million campaigns of taxpayers' money spreading out under my nose, then we don't have those resources, we have to do it differently," he added.

Isok said detailed campaign plans will be confirmed at the party's board meeting in early December, with the primary slogan to remain "Jõukas Eesti" ("A well-off Estonia"). One of its main pledges is freezing all state spending, including pension indexation.

EKRE leader Martin Helme said his party has already run several campaigns with its own resources. "We have a pretty decent media team and marketing and strategic communication capability. We make noticeable savings with that. And it's much faster and more dynamic," he said. "The third reason is that we know off by heart which messages and which visual language work to get our messages across better."

EKRE last used an advertising agency in 2019. Helme said the party also plans to use some assistance from AI, and that its campaign is already underway, with the first TV ad, slogan and design ready. "We have the lists ready too, and by the new year we'll lock in our platform," he added.

Parties which poll higher than 2 percent at an election are eligible for state support in proportion to their size through the ensuing election cycle. The other major source of revenue is donations.

Election day is March 7, 2027.

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